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  • Chidi lauds Oborevwori’s leadership as Governor of the Year

    Chidi lauds Oborevwori’s leadership as Governor of the Year

    The Senior Special Assistant to the Delta State Governor on Tech, Mr Chidi Ikediashi, has congratulated the Delta State Governor Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori on his well-deserved “Governor of the Year” award, organized by THISDAY Newspaper and Arise Television.

    Ikediashi commended Nigerians, Deltans, and the organizers for recognizing Governor Oborevwori’s outstanding achievements.

    “Governor Oborevwori’s policies have positively impacted millions of youths across the state, and his administration has achieved impressive feats in just 18 months, despite challenges.” he said

    “Notably, the governor has ensured fairness in the development of the state, touching every local government area.

    Ikediashi thanked the governor for his dedication to the people of Delta State and expressed gratitude to Deltans for their support.

    “This award will undoubtedly motivate Governor Oborevwori to achieve even more for the state.” he said

  • Land dispute: Jeff Nweke did not kidnap MD of Dubai Estate — Awka leaders

    Land dispute: Jeff Nweke did not kidnap MD of Dubai Estate — Awka leaders

    Controversy has continued to trail the alleged kidnap of  Mr. Benjamin Ezemma, the Managing Director of Dubai Estate, Awka, with some leaders of Ezinano community in the Anambra State capital describing as mischief, the allegation that Jeff Nweke, an illustrious son of the community, had a hand in the missing of Ezemma.

    Ozo Nweke, the Chief Executive Officer of Mango and Lion Properties Ltd, was dragged to Anambra High Court, Awka, with Charge No: AWK/6c/2025, accusing him with others of kidnapping  Ezemma on November 12, 2024.

    But some indigenes of Awka said the allegation against Nweke was part of the grand plan of their neighbouring community they are in  dispute over land .

    One of the Awka leaders,  Arinze Ekelem, at a press briefing, said all the allegations were mere fabrication by the enemies of Jeff Nweke to have free conquest of their community lands.

    He said: “I don’t think their accusation is right because Ozo Jeff Nweke is above what they are accusing him of. I am not ignorant of what they are saying on social media which all are mere frame-ups. However, the security operatives have a lot of work to do, concerning this.”

    ” The person in question, the CEO of Durbai Estate, I have heard a lot of stories about him as regards some problems he was having with his friends, customers and business partners.

    “Actually, I don’t know him one-on-one but sincerely speaking, Ozo Jeff cannot engage in such a dirty thing because everybody knows what he can do.”

  • How two Nollywood actresses dumped Nigeria to join US Army

    How two Nollywood actresses dumped Nigeria to join US Army

    Two Nollywood actresses, Princess Chineke and Mayowa Dosu are no longer singing the Nigerian national anthem but that of Uncle Sam’s as the duo has joined the. United States of America’s Army.

    The two actresses made their new nationality known via their Instagram accounts recently at different times.

    Princess Chineke who has featured in many Nollywood movies like “To Love A Sister, “Stormy Hearts’, “Masters At War” amongst others made hers public with ecstatic words about becoming an American soldier.

    She writes, ” I’m an American soldier, I’m a member of a team, we are the Army and proud of our name. I answered the call of service to my country, to serve the people of United States of America. This I will defend, so help me God. God bless America.”

    And she adds, obviously with glee, “What God cannot do does not exist.”

    Mayowa Dosu wasn’t as superfluous as Princess Chineke in her announcement but her joy was just as incandescent. Her own news was a bit of a shock because she produced a movie only last year. She’s both an actress and producer with many projects to her credit.

  • Overcoming stubborn challenges, by Funmi Komolafe

    Overcoming stubborn challenges, by Funmi Komolafe

    Brethren, let’s congratulate one another for the Grace to witness the last Sunday in January 2025.

    In a couple of days, it would be the end of January and 2025 would be 11 months to go. That’s stating the obvious but we shouldn’t take life for granted.   Some that shouted Happy New Year as you did are now six feet below either because their times to return to God or some wicked people have cut their lives short.

    Whatever situation you find yourself, give thanks to God. He is the giver of life and it has pleased him to keep you alive.

    Today, we’ll discuss, Stubborn challenges. What do we call stubborn challenges and why?

    If we go by the definition of stubborn, it refers to a situation that is difficult to move or remove.

    When a Christian refers to a challenge as stubborn, it means that the person has done everything humanly possible without any solution.

    If a couple have been married for years, undergoing all sorts of medical tests and treatment, with no child to show for it let alone conception, the couple would likely give up.

    Others may resort to prayers, moving from one church to another without any positive result.

    Stubborn challenges could lead to frustration.  It is often a test of one’s faith.   Stubborn challenges

    If not well handled may cause one to derail emotionally or even spiritually.

    Inability to handle stubborn challenges have led some to the witchcraft coven, yet, the problem would remain unresolved.

    As a Christian, you must never allow stubborn challenges, to overcome you.  Rather, you need to violently attack it spiritually and see it give way.

    Let’s consider the story of two women, Sarah and Rachel that went through stubborn challenges.

    The first is Sarah.   The Bible describes her as a beautiful woman such that Abraham had to lie that she was his sister. Twice he lied to save his own life because he knew that other men would want to have her.

    Genesis 12 vs. 11-13 (KJV): And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou are a fair woman to look upon:

    Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me but they will save thee alive.

    Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee”.

    However, despite her beauty, she had a challenge.

    Genesis 11 vs. 30: “ But Sarai was barren; she had no child”.

    Abraham was a righteous man that walked with God and lived his life in accordance with the word of God.  James 2 vs. 23 said of Abraham: “ And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God”.

    This simply tells us that Abraham was a man that prayed regularly yet his wife was barren.

    At a point a frustrated Sarah called on her husband, to go into her maid, and that was the beginning of insubordination, jealousy and even hatred in a hom

    Genesis 16 vs. 4: “ And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes”.

    Sarah got to the point of frustration because she had concluded that it would never be possible for her to have a child.

    In the case of Rachael, she got to the point of frustration and confronted her husband, Jacob.

    Genesis 30 vs. 1 ( NIV): “ When Rachael saw that she was not bearing Jacob any children, she became jealous of her sister.  So she said to Jacob, “ Give me children , or I’ll die”.

    Verse 2 tells of Jacob’s reply: “ Jacob became angry with her and said, “ Am I in the place of God, who has kept you from having children”?

    Rachel turned to man instead of God and she was disappointed. Besides, as Jacob’s favourite wife, she failed to realize that if Jacob had his way, she alone would be the mother of all his children.

    In both cases, we can see that frustration leads to jealousy, hatred   and unnecessary squabbles.

    The good thing is that the two women eventually had children when God intervened.  They both became mothers at God’s own time and they were gifted with special children.

    What these two women passed   through is quite similar to what many people are going through today.

    Often times we turn to human beings for solutions and when medical science fails, we begin to turn to God.

    Thank God for his mercy that endureth forever.

    If God should act like human beings, many would never overcome challenges of life.

    When we are confronted with stubborn challenges like delay in childbearing, delay in getting married, financial stagnation, sickness or any other challenge, the way to overcome is to become prayerfully violent.

    To be prayerfully violent is to pray at all times and to fast if the medical condition of the person permits.

    Our Lord Jesus told us how to deal with stubborn challenges when his disciples could not cast out lunacy in the life of a young boy.

    The disciples asked the LORD why they couldn’t cast out the demon and set the boy that was being tormented by the devil free.

    The reply of Jesus is found in Matthew 17 vs. 20&21 ( KJV) : “And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall  be removed; and nothing  shall be impossible unto you.

    Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting”.

    Jesus mentioned, Faith, Prayer and Fasting as the keys to overcome stubborn challenges.

    Sarah lost faith,. That  was why she told her husband to go into her maid.  She showed lack of faith again when the Lord visited her and Abraham and told them they would have a son.

    Genesis 18 vs. 10-12: “ And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.  And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

    Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

    Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

    Beloved, overcoming a challenge is not a tea party; it is a spiritual war that can only be won with the Lord of one’s side.

    For the Lord to be on your side, you too must be on the LORD’s side. You must be prepared to give up something to take something.

    Perhaps this is one of the reasons, many Pastors direct their members to go on fasting and prayer at the beginning of the year.

    They are simply telling us to prepare  to overcome a stubborn challenge.

    If you prayed, fasted, obeyed God,  offered Praises and gave thanks in 2024 and the challenge remains, then you must realize that you are dealing with a stubborn challenge and the way to overcome is not to give up.

    To overcome, one must be determined to subdue the flesh with prayer and fasting. If the challenge remains, you cannot afford to relax in prayer.

    The more you pray, the more you attack the challenge with the backing of the Holy Spirit and before you realize it, when you least expected, the testimony would manifest.

    By the Grace of God as you put in more efforts in prayer and fasting, that stubborn challenge would soon become a testimony in Jesus name.

    Remember Jesus reigns over all challenges.

    No challenge started with you and none would end with you but you can prayerfully terminate that challenge in Jesus name.

    Jesus is LORD!

  • Gov Oborevwori, please release GCU to GCUOBA, by Dele Sobowale

    Gov Oborevwori, please release GCU to GCUOBA, by Dele Sobowale

    Your Excellency, I had the honour and privilege to deliver the Keynote Address at the 80th anniversary of Government College, Ughelli, GCU, on Friday, January 17, 2025. I was particularly happy when the programme announced that you were coming to grace the august occasion. It would have provided me the opportunity to tell you personally that you are one of two current Governors who has not disappointed me by the way you have managed the affairs of Delta State.

    Nobody is perfect; and you can’t please everybody – especially in a multi-ethnic state like Delta. You have done exceedingly well. Those familiar with this page for over 30 years would confirm that praise-singing is not the style here. Only one Governor, since 1999, has met the gold standard of governance; and that is Obong Victor Attah. You are well on your way to becoming the second. I wish you well. That said; I was disappointed when the Master of Ceremony, MC, first announced that the Deputy Governor would, well, deputise for you.

    That was quickly followed by another announcement that the Dep. Governor would be represented by the Honourable Commissioner for Basic Education. The Professor read the prepared speech; received the applause and sat down as events unfolded. As far as I was concerned, there were two major events requiring your personal attention; and which could not be delegated to anybody else. My address was not one of them. And you missed nothing by not hearing it delivered. By virtue of the Nigerian Constitution, the state Governor is the alpha and omega in his state. Nobody else has the prerogative to attend to those two issues. That was why your absence left a gaping hole in the proceedings.

    RUNNING A SELF-IMPOSED ERRAND

    “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” – Reverend (Dr) Martin Luther King, Jr, 1929-1968.

    Before going into the substance of this article, permit me, as usual, to declare that the Government College Old Boys Association, GCUOBA, did not send me on this errand. I was not paid to promote the idea. It was a great honour for me to have been invited to deliver the address; and a privilege to sit among some of the most eminent Nigerians the college has produced. I was not paid for the opportunity to do so. So, on no account should anybody opposed to what follows assume that this is a paid advertorial. I firmly believe in it. At any rate, I have undertaken such efforts before on important matters.

    In 2010, I was the arrowhead of the struggle to get a Christian Governor elected in Lagos State when most people regarded it as a pipe dream. By the time Sanwo-Olu finishes his second term, it would have been twelve years of Christian Governor in Lagos State. Henceforth, religion will no longer matter. Long before that, I was also among the members of Igbobi College Old Boys Association, ICOBA, who got Governor Bola Tinubu to return our school to ICOBA. By then, Igbobi College, which had been forcefully acquired by the military government, had descended from excellence to mediocrity. We were successful; and I will forever be grateful to Tinubu for his gesture. Personally, I regard those two matters among the most remarkable achievements in my life made possible by having this forum to try and bring changes into our nation.

    WHY GCUOBA’S APPEAL MAKES MORE SENSE NOW

    “Only believers can build a Cathedral “- Albert Camus

    Your Excellency, two requests were made by the President International of GCOBA in your absence. The first naturally requested for donation from the State Government towards the construction of a N3 billion Secretariat – including an auditorium seating 1, 000 people. That needs no explanation. The second is, to me, more important. GCUOBA is requesting the State Government to hand over the school to them as a step towards restoring it back to the centre of educational excellence it once was. That is the reason for this intervention. The good Professor promised to deliver the two messages; and there is no reason to doubt him.

    However, he (Governor) might not be aware of the history of GCU to explain the proposal and its benefits to Delta State in particular and Nigeria, and even the world, in general. The truth is; a great deal of the knowledge which propel the world come from a few citadels of learning; which in turn are merit-based. Government College Ughelli was among the handful of excellent secondary schools established by the British for which admission was based strictly on merit. The contributions of its old boys to Nigeria and humanity provide all the evidence needed to support the argument that every country needs some centres of educational excellence in order to be globally competitive. Two indisputable facts are available.

    All the top 25 economies in the world have at least eight to ten universities among the top 1, 000 universities ranked in the world. Africa and Nigeria have the fewest. No African country is now in top 25. We attend the G-20 annual meeting simply because the world cannot leave us out and not on merit. Meanwhile, GCU has demonstrated what merit-based schools can produce in terms of human capital development if allowed. We have at our disposal the list of people admitted to GCU from its inception in 1945 to 2005; and it is remarkable how its old boys have dominated various fields of endeavour in Nigeria. Although, the task is not finished, we hope to be able to publish the first list of twenty great achievers from GCU in this year of its 80th anniversary. I apologise to those who might have read some of these names before; the repetition has become necessary because of the special appeal to the Governor of Delta State. Among GCU’s old boys, we have been able to identify the following:

    Major-General David Ejoor, 1932-2019, Mr S.B Agodo, the longest serving Permanent Secretary in FG; Chief Grey Longe, Secretary to the FG; Professor Itse Sagay, SAN; Architect Charles Majoroh; Olorogun Albert Akpomudje, SAN; John Momoh, Channels TV; Great Ogboru; Olorogun Taiga, CON; Prince Nduka Obiagbena, THISDAY, ARISE TV; and the legendary Sam Amuka aka Uncle Sam – co-founder PUNCH, Publisher VANGUARD MEDIA; and Mudi of Africa – leading fashion designer who dressed three African Presidents and was visited in his workshop at Anthony Village, Lagos by the King of Morocco demonstrating the Monarch’s regard for excellence.

    The list is not exhaustive of contributors which this great institution has nurtured to serve mankind well. In education as in all aspects of life, the Pareto Principle operates. People in every sphere of life are divided into two groups: the vital few and the trivial many. Education is no exception. Restoring GCU to its former glory is certainly a step in the right direction. Furthermore, Your Excellency, this is a win-win arrangement as our experience at Igbobi College had demonstrated since Governor Tinubu returned it to us. Lagos State allocates whatever it wants annually, the Old Boys are responsible for providing the funds necessary to maintain the quality of education they want for their school.

    Fortunately, every generation produces its own crop of millionaires, and even billionaires; the classes take turns to provide whatever is needed to upgrade infrastructure; and the effort now benefits immensely from contributions from the Diaspora. I rest my case for now Your Excellency; but, there is little doubt in my mind that, years from now, when you might have finished your second term, that you will look back and be pleased that you took this decision. If you don’t believe me Sir, ask President Tinubu about Igbobi College next time you meet with him.

    ALL GCU OLD BOYS: TIME TO START CONTINOUOS FUND RAISING.

    “We make a living by what we get; but, we make a life by what we give.”

    On Friday January 17, 2025, on the campus of Government College Ughelli, the President General Worldwide of the GCUOBA, Olorogun Akpomudje, SAN, announced the launching of a N3 BILLION DEVELOPMENT FUND. About N500 million was raised by the fund raiser – the inimitable Olorogun Dr M. O Taiga. There was a commendable effort led by the “Peoples General” Great Ogboru who led the parade of donors. As an economist, I can, with little fear of contradiction, declare the result, about 16 per cent, good, but not nearly enough.

    There is still 84 per cent or more to go because by the time the N3 billion is gathered, inflation might drive the figure to N4 billion or more. I have the list of all old boys from 1945 to 2005 with me. I am appealing to everyone – including the families of those who had passed on – for donations. The children of the late Gamaliel Onosode, 1933-2015, incomparable boardroom guru, had already set the example in this regard. They paid, what I assume, a handsome first installment. Given 84 per cent, or more, left to go, there is no doubt in my mind they will do what late Papa knew best to do and help bridge the gap. As far as I am concerned, that an Old Boy is with the saints triumphant in heaven is no excuse for his name not to appear in the roll of honour at Ughelli.

    “Little drops of water, little grains of sand make a mighty ocean.”

    Low income is also not a reason not to send money. N1, 000 will buy nails or some cement blocks. Irrespective of your financial position, just commit yourself to going to a P.O.S and send at least N1, 000 a month. In one year, you would have donated N12, 000; in five years N60, 000.  Send all donations to:

    GCUOBA 80TH Anniversary Account

    UBA:  102-767-8072.

    Almighty God will replenish your purse as you donate.

  • If only, by Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi

    If only, by Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi

    A man in Anambra State quarreled with his wife. As the argument progressed, he poured fuel over her and set her ablaze. She is now dead, leaving five children behind. The man claims she was committing adultery. Sadly, she is no longer here to defend herself. He had been married before and that union ended. He said his first wife was ‘problematic’.

    Now he has murdered his second wife. There are too many wives living with ‘problematic’ husbands. Even girlfriends put up with ‘problematic’ boyfriends who beat and humiliate them.Marriages are meant to be peaceful unions, of course with occasional concerns but not the kind that should leave children without a parent. If you are living with, know of or are witness to a ‘problem’, please solve it. Before it is too late.

    If only Boma had understood how wrong it was for her boyfriend of just one month to yell at her. In public. She had met Sam at a cocktail organised by the chambers where she worked. Sam worked for one of the top banks and he ticked the right boxes – handsome, charming, good prospects. Four weeks later, they were both at a birthday dinner for one of his friends. There was a heated but friendly conversation about the state of insecurity in the country.

    Some of the guests, including Sam, thought the government was not doing enough to make citizens safe. Boma sided with others who felt that the situation had started deteriorating under the previous administration with huge amounts earmarked for security ending up in private pockets. As the lively exchange was going on, and Boma was speaking, Sam yelled at her in a thunderous tone ‘Shut up!’. Everyonewas taken aback at this rude behaviour. The conversation stalled, and the guests made awkward attempts at small talk, but the damage had already been done.

    The evening was ruined. Later on, Sam accused Boma of trying to impress people with her intelligence, just to let them know she was a Lawyer. Boma said she was only expressing her opinion to which Sam replied, ‘I had already stated my own opinion. Why should your own opinion differ from mine?’. Boma’s friends discussed the episode with her and she told them that Sam was only behaving the way most men behave, they want to be seen as the boss. It didn’t mean that he did not care for her. If only.

    If only she had told her friends about the first time he slapped her. She only told them the third time he hit her, and that was a week to their wedding. They had argued over something minor, and she muttered under her breath that he was so sensitive about everything. He asked her to repeat what she had just said and she claimed not to have said anything. All of a sudden, she was spinning from the blow he dealt her and that scary tone of his, ‘So I am now a liar?’.Her committee of five friends were divided.

    Two of them advised her to leave the controlling bxxxxxd and forget about the wedding, someone better would come along. A man who has not married you and is already beating you will do worse once you become his wife. Three of them toldher to let her Pastor know. Boma was in love. She had a wedding to plan. After the wedding there would be plenty of time to talk to Sam as carefully as she could about his behaviour. He always apologised when he hit her and would promise not to do it again. He couldn’t be that bad as to continue, maybe he was feeling insecure because they were not married yet.

    She did not have time to start telling long stories to their Pastor, who would only advise them to pray and for her to submit to him wholeheartedly, which she was already prepared to do.  She did not want to involve others because she did not want to give Sam another excuse to attack her before the wedding. It was too close to risk getting bruises that makeup would not be able to cover. Boma’s older brother David would have been another option, but he lived in Abuja and Boma did not want to have the conversation over the phone.

    Both her parents lived in Ibadan, they were Professors at the University. That was another sore point with Sam. His father was a civil servant and his mother was a teacher. He accused Boma of acting as if she was superior to him because she felt her background was more illustrious than his. She kept saying this was not true and wondered why he would think that way.So Boma did nothing and said nothing.She focused on the wedding not the forthcoming marriage. If only.

    he honeymoon was uneventful, unless you want to count the kick in the thigh she received when she did not get out of bed quickly enough to open the door for room service. Months passed, then years, three in all. The days, weeks and months were all a blur of fear, tears and blood.After the beatings would come the pleas for forgiveness, gifts and promises. Till the next time. She lost her first pregnancy. When she called her mother from the hospital to tell her what had happened, her mother demanded to know the cause of the miscarriage. Boma told her mother that she didn’t know, the doctors said things like that happen.

    She did not say anything about the fall as she was trying to escape Sam’s blows. Her mother-in-law came to stay with them for a few weeks when their daughter Tiwa was born. When the woman was leaving, Boma clung to her as if her life depended on it. When Sam’s mother was around, the beatings stopped. Mama Sam was a very religious woman. She advised Boma to be more prayerful and hopefully he would change, just as his father had done. Mama Sam went up the mountain to do a special one-week vigil and fast to ask God to soften Sam’s heart and watch over his young family. When Boma’s mother was around, Sam did not show that much restraint. During one encounter with his wife, when Boma’s mother intervened, Sam asked her to leave his house and take her daughter with her.If only.

    Boma stopped working when she was pregnant with Tiwa. Sam had managed to convince her that the stress of commuting to work was a threat to their baby. Boma got too weary and scared of arguing with him about it. Without a job she felt trapped even more, but she soldiered on. Her parents and brother attempted to stage an intervention, but it did not work. Boma was too afraid to leave Sam because he had threatened to kill her if she tried. By this time, her committee of friends operated at a safe distance, throughWhatsApp and the few phone calls she could manage in between the times Sam raided her phone to check for ‘unauthorised communication’. They had all seen their smart, beautiful friend shrink before their eyes and they felt powerless. They each had their own issues to deal with, so Boma’s violent marriage was sad, but it was her problem.If only.

    Boma stared at her photograph. Her image smiled back at her, though she didn’t like the shade of lipstick she had used when the photograph was taken, and the foundation was a shade too dark for her skin tone. The fresh flowers were lovely though, her favourite pink roses. She looked around the church. David’s wife was holding Tiwa’s hand, while David had his head bowed for most of the time. She wondered why her parents where not there, then she realised that they couldn’t be there. She saw her friends, as well as old colleagues from work. After the service, she followed them to the cemetery, and watched as they lowered the casket into the ground.

    Her friends were no longer trying to comport themselves like they did in church, they weptopenly. Hot tears of regret. Tears of ‘If only’. David fell to his knees, his wife held on to him with one hand, clutching Tiwa with the other. Boma watched the casket going further into the ground and felt herself being drawn higher up as if she was in sync with the casket lowering device.It came back to her in flashes. The yelling. The familiar blows and punches. Tiwa crying at all the commotion. The choking.She had fought back to try and get away and that is when the push came as if the devil himself was the force that propelled her over the railings. She felt herself suspended in mid-air for what seemed like an eternity, till she crashed and struck her head hard against the floor.Then everything went black.

    As David walked away from the graveside, feeling as if he had stones tied to his feet, he took comfort in the fact that Sam was not allowed to attend the funeral, he was awaiting trial without bail. If only he had done more to protecthis sister. He looked back at the grave. ‘Look up’, Boma wanted to shout out to David, but she couldn’t. Then she saw a bright ball of light speeding towards her. If only.

    ‘If Only’ can be found in ‘Where is Your Wrapper?’ Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, published by Prestige, Kachifo Limited, October 2020.

  • Obasanjo, Carter and Abacha, by Patrick Omorodion

    Obasanjo, Carter and Abacha, by Patrick Omorodion

    Obasanjo, Carter and Abacha Sports serves as a diplomatic tool to promote cooperation,

    understanding, and peace between nations. It can also be used to enhance a country’s image and foster better relationships amongst the peoples of the world.

    However, countries and their leaders oftentimes use it to fight injustices. And most often athletes and administrators are the pawns these countries and leaders use on their Chess boards of war.

    I have always respected Dr. Segun Odegbami since my path and his crossed in sports through the famous Shell Cup football competition for secondary schools in Nigeria.

    I brought Odegbami into this piece because through him, I got to know the difference between two leaders, Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military Head of State of Nigeria and Jimmy Carter, a former president of the United States.

    Both leaders were at the helm of their countries affairs almost at the same period, Obasanjo from 1976-1979 while Carter from 1977-1981. No wonder they bonded together.

    I was actually a young secondary school student in 1976 when Obasanjo led other African countries to boycott the Olympic Games hosted by the Canadian City of Montreal.

    It was as a result of the International Olympic Committee, IOC’s refusal to exclude New Zealand from the Games as requested by the Organization of African Unity, OAU.

    New Zealand had allowed their Rugby team to visit South Africa to play at a time the Apartheid regime had massacred about 600 school children in Soweto.

    Over 20 African countries’ athletes, including Nigeria, were already on ground in New Zealand. Obasanjo as Head of State and, following the decision of the OAU, ordered the Nigerian contingent back home. Odegbami was a member of the football team that year.

    A similar boycott of the Olympics took place four years later when then Soviet Union capital, Moscow hosted in 1980. It was at the behest of the United States in protest of the invasion of Afghanistan.

    Nigeria who boycotted the Montreal Olympics refused to join the United States orchestrated one despite the closeness of Obasanjo to Carter even after Muhammad Ali travelled down here to convince the leadership to join.

    Obasanjo and Carter won the diplomatic wars using sports to cause a massive boycott of both Olympics but, according to Odegbami, Carter won the hearts of American athletes who, like their Nigerian counterparts in 1976, had suffered their bodies preparing for the Games which is the dream of every athlete.

    What did Carter do? Odegbami reported penultimate Saturday in his Column titled ‘Between Jimmy Carter and Allen Onyeama’ that “He (Carter) invited the affected American athletes to the White House, feted them, recognized them officially in America as Olympians, and decorated them with the US Congressional Award, the highest civilian honour in the USA”.

    How did Obasanjo treat the Nigerian contingent who were thrown out of the Olympic Games Village like pieces of rags after the boycott? He ignored them, not even a handshake reception on their return. Other Heads of State and presidents after Obasanjo also forgot about the athletes’ sacrifice till today.

    Again it took an ideas man like Odegbami for the ‘labour of our heroes past’ not to been in vain. His friendship and partnership with a patriotic and humble Nigerian, Allen Onyeama, brought the memories of the 1976 Olympic Games boycott to the front pages once again.

    Through Odegbami, what Obasanjo didn’t do for Nigerian athletes but Carter did for American athletes who sacrificed their dreams like their Nigerian counterparts, Allen did by wiping away tears from the 1976 heroes and heroines.

    Like Odegbami pointed out, Allen did for the 1976 athletes more than what Carter did for the 1980 American athletes.

    The Hall of Fame with the names of all the athletes which Allen constructed within the premises of the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, NIIA in Lagos will remain an everlasting national monument.

    He also ensured that as ‘Ambassadors of Airpeace’, his airline, these heroes and heroines will “fly free-of-charge and in Business Class, on any domestic route in Nigeria any number of times, and on one international flight a year, to any destination around the world where Airpeace flies to, for the rest of their lives.”

    A laudable effort by a single individual which the government hasn’t done for any sports hero, dead or alive.

    Even for his effort, Allen hasn’t been honoured by the Nigerian government for doing what it was supposed to.

    Another military leader, General Sani Abacha, now late, also used sports, football in particular, to fight an undiplomatic war against former president of South Africa, Dr. Nelson Mandela.

    That was during Abacha’s despotic reign as Head of State, when he sentenced Ken Saro-Wiwa to death by hanging.

    Despite pleas from Mandela and other world leaders to spare Saro-Wiwa and other Ogoni men slated for the hang-man’s noose, Abacha still killed them.

    Mandela condemned the action and called for the expulsion of Nigeria from the Commonwealth.

    In retaliation, Abacha pulled out the Super Eagles from the 1996 AFCON in South Africa which they were supposed to attend as defending champions.

    He gathered the players in Abuja and told Peter Rufai, then captain, to tell his teammates why they shouldn’t go for their title defence.

    It was totally the personal ego of Abacha and the players threw away national interest for a ‘mess of porridge’ allegedly offered them by the bespectacled dictator.

    Till today, the names of those players, rather than be etched on the Hall of Fame at the NIIA, are forever etched on the Hall of Shame on the minds of disappointed Nigerians.

  • Stay away from trouble, protect your assets, by Francis Ewherido

    Stay away from trouble, protect your assets, by Francis Ewherido

    The Nigerian Police Force has announced that from next Saturday, February 1, it will start the enforcement of the minimum Motor Insurance (Third Party) Act for vehicles nationwide. Consequently, I am revisiting motor insurance a few weeks after I did a similar article. I had to drop the article for today because the enforcement starts next Saturday and this is the last opportunity I have to inform or remind you.

    The implementation has consequences. In view of the economic hardship, you need to avoid any thing that will make you get into police trouble that can lead to avoidable expenses. In fairness to the Nigeria Police, they are only trying to implement an 80-year-old law that is very important to other road users! The Motor Vehicles (Third Party) Insurance Act of 1945, which took effect from 1st April 1950, makes it an offence for anybody to use a motor vehicle on the road without having in place the minimum Motor (Third Party) Insurance to cover the motorist against liabilities arising from third party bodily injuries or death.  The 2003 Insurance Act added third party property damage.

    The penalty if you run afoul of the law is a fine of N250,000 fine or/and one-year imprisonment. Whether you pay the fine or go to prison, you become an ex-convict subsequently and you know the implications: It can stop you from holding public office or be a director of a company. Prevention is better than cure.

    Nigerian road users are like a polygamist with many wives. You have the favourite wife/wives called amebo and the wives who have fallen out of favour. In Urhobo, we call them avwiorovwen. On our roads, you are either an amebo or avwiorovwen. This applies not only to the police, but road safety, customs agent and other uniformed personnel. The amebos include the rich, motorists with grey hairs, especially if they drive expensive or neat vehicles, members of the judiciary, armed forces personnel, people with security escorts, the clergy especially those high up the rank, journalists with car stickers, etc.

    The avwiorovwe are those with old and rickety vehicles, young men driving expensive cars, young men with tattoos or wearing ear rings and carrying braids. This article should ordinarily be for everyone because the law is specific: do not put your vehicle on a public road without the minimum third party motor insurance. But I am talking specifically to the avwiorovwen because our matter different for Nigeria.

    If you are an aviorovwen, you better get the minimum third party motor insurance before next Saturday. It is not enough that you buy the insurance. Ensure you buy from a genuine source. I have shared them before and I will do so again. You can buy directly from an insurance company or an insurance brokerage company licensed by the National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), the regulatory body of insurance in Nigeria. I always advise that you do so through an insurance broker because they are your agents and will help you to process your claim in the event of an accident leading to a claim. What is insurance without payment of genuine claims? You can contact companies authorized to issue or act on your behalf at: naicom.gov.ng and https://ncrib.net.

    The third party insurance premium is N15,000 for private vehicles and N20,000 for commercial vehicles and staff buses. Tricycles and motorcycles are N3,000 and N2,000 per annum to abide by the law. These sums are less than what agberos collect from okada and keke daily. Premium for trucks is N100,000 per annum. Now compare these premiums with the N1m fine for default or if you get into police wahala? Mostly affected will be the avwiorophes. You don’t want me to elaborate. Na Nigeria all of us dey.

    Another reminder, ensure that you have downloaded the NIID (Nigeria Insurance Industry Database) app on your phone. It contains the data of all vehicles with genuine motor insurance policies in Nigeria. With the admonition so far, some people will still and get their motor insurance under the bridge or from motor licensing offices. Check on the NIID platform to be sure you have a genuine insurance. If it is not there, it is fake. Many policemen in Lagos already have the app on their phones. With the enforcement starting next Saturday, many more policemen across Nigeria will download it. Ogun State to Benin routes are particularly on my mind. I have forewarned and forearmed you.

    A few weeks ago when we treated “motor insurance simplified,” we explained that the benefits of third party motor insurance are for third parties (other road users) only for bodily injuries, death and property damage.

    A few weeks ago when we treated “motor insurance simplified,” we explained that the benefits of third party motor insurance are for third parties (other road users) only for bodily injuries, death and property damage.

    The policyholder gets no personal benefits. The second motor insurance policy, third party, fire and theft has limited benefit for the policyholder which applies if his vehicle is damaged by fire or stolen. And the premium is about two-third of the comprehensive motor insurance premium. Only comprehensive motor insurance gives the policyholder full coverage and the premium is 5% of the insured value. Many people say they cannot afford both premiums; meanwhile they want a policy that can give them some benefits for own damage (damage to their vehicle).

    Some insurance companies have come up with products that care of third parties and limited benefit for own damage for policyholders. The extended third party insurance can cover own damage as high as N500,000, but it is good to involve your insurance broker to negotiate additional premium to the N15,000 basic third party premium to get the cover, especially if it is not expressly stated. But this policy is not suitable for all vehicle owners. For instance, if the value of your car is N150m, it is useless and a waste of the extra premium.

    In the event of an accident, one headlight of a luxury car can cost as much as N1.5m to replace. The truth is that many owners of expensive cars only do third party insurance to comply with the law. I tried marketing someone with a garage worth over N5b. He said he was contented with third party insurance. “What of if your car is involved in an accident or stolen?” “Francis, if this one get accident, other ones dey to drive. Who dey thief expensive motor sef? If e get accident or dem thief my motor, money dey to replace am.” I closed the matter there, or what do you want me to do? Give a lecture on financial management to a multi-billionaire who has his mind made up?

    On the other hand, repairs of many vehicles under N10m in value will not cost more than N500,000 in the event of an accident that is not severe. These are the kind of vehicles that this variant of Motor (Third Party) Insurance is suitable for. But the policyholder must be aware of the risk he is carrying. In the event of extensive damage to his vehicle, he will be his own insurer for any amount above insurance policy limit. For instance, if you are involved in an accident that will cost you N1.5m to fix your car, the maximum you can get from the insurance company is N500,000. You are your own insurer for the balance of N1m.

  • Unlocking the Nigerian professional football league!, by Segun Odegbami

    Unlocking the Nigerian professional football league!, by Segun Odegbami

    Arguably, the most successful football club in the history of Nigerian football is Enyimba FC.

    The Aba-based club has won the Nigerian Premier League more times than any other club (9 times). It is the only Club to have won the CAF Champions League trophy (twice). The club’s records and fixture at the top half of the Premier League have remained consistent and unblemished for over two decades.

    Last week, ‘the People’s Elephant’, the last amongst the 4 clubs that represented Nigeria in the ongoing 2024/2025 CAF Club competitions, was also knocked out of the second-tier CAF Confederation Cup. In their last two group matches, they lost to Zamalek FC of Egypt in Cairo by 3-1, after playing a drawn game in Uyo in the first leg.

    They are the last of the 4 Nigerian clubs that qualified and failed (again) to make any headway in the two continental CAF competitions this 2024/2025 season. The other three teams are El Kanemi Warriors FC of Maiduguri, Remo Stars FC of Ikenne and Rangers International FC of Enugu.

    These ‘giants’ collectively represent the continuing failure of Nigerian clubs to make an impact in African club football in the past 20 years, the last time a Nigerian club won any of the two CAF trophies in African football.

    What does this mean in terms of Nigeria’s domestic football development where success is measured only in Trophies and Medals won?

    The question is pertinent because Nigeria has the largest number of African players in the professional football ranks abroad. Yet this high production rate of players good enough for the leagues abroad, is not reflected at all in the domestic leagues at home. The wider implication may even be that the migration abroad is depleting the teams at home and reducing the standard of the domestic leagues. You cannot eat your cake and have it.

    This ceaseless and uncontrolled exodus of quality players from domestic clubs must be partly responsible for the low quality of the league and also for failure to attract the attention and interest of investors and sponsors. The absence of great players in any league is like tea without sugar.

    There was a time (some 30 years ago), at the start of the professional league in Nigeria, when companies (including the giant telecom companies) were falling over each other to sponsor the Nigerian league with stupendous offers. What has happened to all that fire and enthusiasm?

    Even this past decade, or so, an oil company ‘poured’ resources into Nigerian football, including the league, even when at a time that the reputation of the league was at its lowest, riddled with charges of reckless corruption, and absence of basic infrastructure, proper management and elementary coverage facilities without which the business can never thrive. All sports thrive mostly on TV coverage.

    The oil company left unceremoniously for reasons unknown, but not unconnected with the reputation of the league.

    Whatever happened to that kind of enthusiastic attraction of sponsors to Nigerian football despite the poor image it conjured at those times in the past?

    When the idea of an external body to manage the Premier league was first introduced and a League Management Committee, LMC, operating independent of the Federation was mooted and later embraced and introduced, it was assumed that massive changes would take place that would bring an end to the shenanigans that marred earlier management. For example, It was assumed it would bring to an end the era of government clubs and government interference in the affairs of domestic football which were assumed to be the oxygen for corrupt practices affecting the transparency and functionality of the league.

    That LMC came and went after over a decade of operating in a cloud of obscurity and secrecy, with charges of non-accountability hanging over its head like the fabled Albatross in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s ‘the Rime of the Ancient Marina’.

    The operators were seen to be benefiting more than the league itself. They were let go.

    In the past three years, a new League Management Company, LMC, has been born under a new leadership with a new spirit and with slightly clearer roles and agenda. It is assumed that things will be different and will yield different fruits.

    The new LMC brings in a strategic new partner, GTI Assets Management, to guide the league down a new route into proper management and prosperity.

    Supported with initial funds raised and provided by GTI, the LMC has surely been improving the organisation of the league by stabilizing its operations, assisting the clubs financially at the start of every season, facilitating the payment of critical indemnities of major officials, and running the leagues by avoiding any major crisis of confidence and trust.

    The main challenge remains the economic prosperity of the clubs and the league. No one knows the full details of the relationships that the LMC has with GTI, other partners, investors and sponsors until the anticipated revenue starts pouring into the league.

    Such revenue will help keep the best players at home and attract retiring ones still good enough to return and play in the domestic league. But which comes first? Is it the chicken or the egg?

    However, there are a few other sideline developments of interest to highlight here.

    During the 2024/2025 season, of the 20 clubs in the league, 18 of them are still owned and funded by State governments. Private clubs have either been muscled out or are unable to meet the demands of running clubs without major income sources.

    Only two clubs are privately owned in the Premier League and both are using proceeds from other sources, particularly the trading of players abroad, as the primary source of their revenue. This inordinate selling of players has triggered an avalanche of players’ migration, creating the biggest single problem with developing domestic Nigerian football.

    Many clubs have shifted their gaze from developing players and winning trophies to the easier and more lucrative business of trading in players abroad through proxy clubs and academies.

    The consequence is damning. Nigerian players have become cheap and abundant commodities, with many traded for peanuts to clubs in countries with low football pedigree, like Sudan, Mauritius, Ethiopia, Benin Republic, Malta, Albania, Bangladesh, Tanzania and so on. These are all ‘professional’ football destinations for Nigerian players now.

    Unfortunately, these destinations are a ‘death zone’. The players that migrate there simply disappear into obscurity, forever.

    The product of this is that Nigerian clubs become so weak they are unable to win any club trophies in Africa.

    The last time a Nigerian club won any of the CAF competitions was in 2003/4, and 2004-2005, through Enyimba FC. That’s all.

    Since then, only feeble attempts to get to the finals by Dolphins FC (once), and to the quarter finals (twice) by two other Nigerian clubs, have taken place.

    If success at continental club level is the parameter to measure success of a country’s domestic football (and there is no other yardstick to use) it is no surprise, therefore, that the Nigerian league is NOT amongst the top-five in CAF’s latest ranking. That speaks volumes.

    Where is the claim, therefore, by some stakeholders coming from that Nigerian football at domestic level is making giant strides?

    The situation is so bad that two players from the current home-based Super Eagles team preparing for CHAN may have left camp and headed for Sudan and Albania.

    Once players go to several of these countries they evaporate into oblivion. Yet, the movement abroad becomes a flood into which emerging stars are swept away before they mature. Yet, without them, football at domestic level will be tasteless, like Tea without Sugar.

    No matter the incentives or measures introduced to improve the league, clubs will not win championships, and the leagues will not be marketable without quality players being produced and incentivized to remain in the domestic leagues.

    The Nigerian Premier Football League is a machine with many moving parts that must all move in harmony to produce an attractive league good enough to market.

    Without excellent grounds around the country, excellent television and radio coverage facilities and programs, without stemming the uncontrolled migration of players abroad, every effort to lift the league to another level will remain on the tarmac.

    I learnt that GTI Assets Management have tremendous experience in investment and management, and actually spent 10 years researching and studying the Nigerian league and how to turn its fortune around. I hope that all of these will be brought into play to ignite the flames of genuine development and success.

  • What next for Ogoniland? By Donu Kogbara

    What next for Ogoniland? By Donu Kogbara

    Last week, I was invited to the presidential villa to meet President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the National Security Adviser (NSA).

    The reason given was that I am an “important Ogoni Stakeholder” and I was really surprised to have received such a flattering summons because I have been a vocal opponent of Tinubu since 2022.

    OK so I made my way to this meeting on Tuesday alongside other senior Ogoni stakeholders.

    We were told that the government wanted to find out what it could do to persuade us and our brethren back home to support its interest in resuming oil operations on our ancestral turf.

    Ogoniland quit producing oil in the early 1990s at the height of the Ken Saro Wiwa crisis – a very complicated situation that cannot be adequately summarised in a few newspaper paragraphs. But let me provide a potted history anyway for newcomers to this tragic story.

    Saro Wiwa was the face of a robust campaign that focussed on Shell Petroleum’s environmental abuses. The Ogoni leadership was deeply divided. Some moderate Ogoni leaders (my late father Ignatius, for example) favoured negotiation with the authorities. Saro Wiwa and the youths he controlled favoured a more radical approach.

    Eventually, 4 blameless Ogoni chiefs – my uncles Edward Kobani, Albert Badey, Theophilus Orage and Samuel Orage – were murdered.

    Some Ogonis blamed the Nigerian army for this fratricidal outrage. Others blamed Ken and his fans. The then head of state, General Sani Abacha, also regarded them as guilty; and they were executed.

    Shell Petroleum, which was accused of colluding with the Federal Government, was forced to retreat. Numerous attempts to resolve the impasse have failed. The rift with Shell was never healed. Other companies that have expressed an interest in taking over from Shell have been rejected. And Ogoniland has yet to recover – politically, socially, financially, psychologically – from the trauma, bloodletting, bitterness and absence of significant economic activity.

    Most members of the delegation that went to meet President Tinubu on Tuesday bear emotional scars linked to this sorry state of affairs.

    I frequently find myself furiously dwelling on the fact that the bodies of my assassinated uncles have never materialised. If I feel like this, imagine how the children of the disappeared victims feel! Anyway, I applaud Mr President for including both pro- and anti-Ken individuals on his guest list and for appealing to all of us to put the past behind us and embrace the spirit of reconciliation.

    He urged Ogonis to set aside historical grievances and work together to achieve peace, development, and a clean environment.

    “We cannot in any way rewrite history, but we can correct some anomalies of the past going forward. We cannot heal the wounds if we continue to be angry,” the president said.

    I and most of the Ogonis I know feel neglected, marginalised and cheated. There has never been an Ogoni Governor, Deputy Governor, Chief Judge or Speaker of the State House of Assembly.

    The President promised to prioritise peace, justice and the sustainable development of Ogoniland, then directed the NSA to coordinate inclusive negotiations with Ogoni leaders. The Rivers State Governor, Sir Sim Fubara, was also at this meeting and made all the right noises and sounded sincerely committed to working with us to enable Ogoniland to enjoy a brighter future.

    A separate meeting at the NSA’s office was immensely cordial, though too short (because it was quite late in the day) to accommodate those who had hoped for in-depth discussions about the best way forward.

    The Chief Executive of NNPCL,  Mele Kyari, and Adeola Oluwatosin Ajayi, the DG of the DSS (who is married to a Rivers woman!) joined us and assured us of maximum cooperation.

    I personally think, on reflection, that the best way forward is for Ogonis to create a detailed and sophisticated masterplan for our region, in conjunction with expert development consultants.

    All that remains now is to keep one’s fingers tightly crossed that regular consultations at community level will ensue and that Mr President, the NSA, the NNPCL CEO, the DG DSS and our Governor will keep their promises and not try to be too clever by half!

    I am trying my best to give all of the above the benefit of many doubts (my own doubts as well as doubts expressed by other Ogonis who don’t trust this government or ANY Nigerian government).

    I will maintain an open mind. But I will be the first to complain very loudly if this project is not handled ethically and efficiently.